Location:
Sofia, Bulgaria
Date:
2004
Gross Floor Area:
805 m2
Phase:
Built
Original Architectural Design:
Georgi Atanasov, Engineer
Status:
The building is a designated Immovable Cultural Heritage in an Ensemble
Originally the building was the house of the great entrepreneur and engineer Georgi Atanasov. It was designed by himself as a family home. During the Communist regime it was confiscated and converted into an embassy. When we started the work it was jointly owned by the state and the family, and was intended as the headquarters of a (state owned) betting company. Now it hosts the South African Embassy.
We worked on the upper storeys, the roof storey, and the elevations. The attic was originally not inhabitable. We completely demolished the existing roof structure (to the bare concrete slab) and built a new one with the same contours. The new roof is supported by the side wall and only a single column, and is entirely hollow. Thus we created one more new habitable storey and increased the usable area by 30%, without changing the volume of the building. We designed new furniture layouts for the three storeys and restored the façades.